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| A permeable body of rock or regolith that both stores and transports groundwater. |
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artesian formation [image] |
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An artesian formation is formed when a permeable layer dips underground between impermeable layers. Its usually made of shale or clay. The permeable layer is the aquifer, or water bearer. The impermeable layer above the aquifer is called the cap rock. When wells are dried, the water rises, as the water is under pressure. These are artesian wells, which flow continually. They differ in depth. When groundwater is used up, ocean water seeps in and wells are unusable, as pollutants can enter groundwater, and this is a problem as there is no cheap or natural way to purify water. |
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Evapotranspiration [image] |
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| Evapotranspiration: All methods of water moving from a liquid to water vapor in nature. Includes both evaporation and |
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| Geyser: A hot spring that intermittently erupts a spray of steam and hot water. Caused by the heating of ground water within a confined opening in hot rock. |
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| The volume of pore space in a rock, sediment or soil. Usually expressed as a percentage. This pore space can include openings between grains, fracture openings and caverns. |
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| Water added to an aquifer or other water body. An aquifer is recharged by precipitation in an area where the aquifer has a porous connection to the surface. |
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The hydrosphere is the "water sphere" that includes all the water of the earth system. Water of the hydrosphere is constantly cycling between the various components of the hydrologic cycle . |
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| A layer of rock, sediment or soil that does not allow water to pass through. This could be caused by a lack of pore space or pore spaces that are so small that water molecules have difficulty passing through. |
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| A measure of how well a material can transmit water. Materials such as gravel, that transmit water quickly, have high values of permeability. Materials such as shale, that transmit water poorly, have low values. Permeability is primarily determined by the size of the pore spaces and their degree of interconnection. Permeability measures are expressed in units of velocity, such as centimeters per second, and assume a gradient of one vertical foot of drop per linear foot. |
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| how water gets evaporated and then rains then goes to the ocean and repeats its self |
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| A level beneath the Earth's surface, below which all pore spaces are filled with water and above which the pore spaces are filled with air. The top of the zone of saturation in a subsurface rock, soil or sediment unit |
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